miller Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 i have about a week between may 14 and may 20 and was thinking about going to city of rocks. ive never been and havent heard much about it, other than that it has good climbing. is this time of year a good time to go? does anyone happen to know about how long it takes to get there from the boulder area? thanks! Quote
John Frieh Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 Moderators! We need an Idaho section! Climbing or Rock and Ice did recent article on reopening. A new guide book is in circulation which covers many of your questions. PM wazzumountaineer; he is the Idaho hook up. And if you have time, go into the sawtooths (elephant's perch, finger of fate), you won't regret it. Quote
minx Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 i second the recommendation to go to the sawtooths. elephant's perch is great. i'm hoping to get there this summer. should be a good time of year for city of rocks. we do have an idaho forum....it's called eastern WA Quote
dylan_taylor Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 Hey T! COR ought to make a nice rest stop 2/3 of the way from boulder to b'ham! I went there years ago in early july and it was hot. May seems perfect, but it's been years since I was there and I don't remember much. Quote
lummox Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 i have about a week between may 14 and may 20 and was thinking about going to city of rocks. ive never been and havent heard much about it, other than that it has good climbing. is this time of year a good time to go? does anyone happen to know about how long it takes to get there from the boulder area? thanks! it is good. for cragging. now is great. later is hotter. then it cools off again. what boulder area? Quote
dylan_taylor Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 I believe he means from a territory near the Peoples Republic of Boulder. Takes about 12 hours + or -. Quote
miller Posted May 5, 2004 Author Posted May 5, 2004 i have about a week between may 14 and may 20 and was thinking about going to city of rocks. ive never been and havent heard much about it, other than that it has good climbing. is this time of year a good time to go? does anyone happen to know about how long it takes to get there from the boulder area? thanks! it is good. for cragging. now is great. later is hotter. then it cools off again. what boulder area? lummox, thanks for the info. and yeah, i guess i didnt make that very clear - i meant from the boulder, co area - about how long does it take to get to city of rocks from boulder, co? Quote
miller Posted May 5, 2004 Author Posted May 5, 2004 I believe he means from a territory near the Peoples Republic of Boulder. Takes about 12 hours + or -. what up dylan??? yah, i meant the people's republic. about 12 hours??? - dang!!! is it worth it for a few days? - i have to head back to the fort before going to bham - wont be in bham till end of may... Quote
dylan_taylor Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 Todd, what do you need city of rocks for if you're so close to boulder? Is Eldo tapped out yet? Hell, go spend a few days in the Platte (bummer about Turkey Rocks) or heck, the Black is probably perfect right now! Or ride the next heat wave up to the Diamond! See you in the ham. Quote
John Frieh Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 Finger of fate... better quality climb than Outer Space. Quote
miller Posted May 5, 2004 Author Posted May 5, 2004 Todd, what do you need city of rocks for if you're so close to boulder? Is Eldo tapped out yet? Hell, go spend a few days in the Platte (bummer about Turkey Rocks) or heck, the Black is probably perfect right now! Or ride the next heat wave up to the Diamond! See you in the ham. yo, been climbing in this neighborhood for several days a week for the better part of the last 6 years! looking for some new scenery and i thought, "hey thats a place ive never been to..." but 12 hours, dang!!! i was assuming it wasnt that far from SLC. sounds like ill be getting a few more days in at the local spots, which is cool...still intimidated by the edge, currently fearing the lift of the raptor closure (which is my best excuse for not doing it...) whats the bummer about turkey rocks? - that jawn was open last i heard... Quote
dylan_taylor Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 I thought it got all scorched from the big fire 2years ago and got put off limits. Go to Cynical Pinnacle & sunshine wall if you've never been there. It is kind of city-of-rocks-ish except that is is bigger, more sandbagged, and generally more bad-ass. I think COR is probably 2.5 hours from SLC if you drive fast, so maybe for you, <10hrs from the fort. Quote
miller Posted May 5, 2004 Author Posted May 5, 2004 we're getting way off on a tangent here... been to cynical pinnacle too - youre right, turkey rocks did get scorched but im 99% sure they reopened it, although with a different approach. i think of turkey rocks as being similar to vedauwoo, but half as good and twice as far away... the black is a place you could give me some beta on - but maybe we should PM or change the topic of this thread to "todd and dylan going back and forth about shit that has nothing to do with city of rocks" =) have you ever done scenic cruise? Quote
thrutch Posted May 5, 2004 Posted May 5, 2004 City is only 3 easy hours from SLC and Boulder is what 7 hours from SLC so you are still looking at 10 hours of driving. I would think that Veudvoo would be a better use of your time, unless of course you have already been there. It was also snow free as of 2 weeks ago, except for small patches of snow. Quote
kurthicks Posted May 6, 2004 Posted May 6, 2004 As much as NOLSe thinks i might be the Idaho hookup, i've never been to City of Rocks. Try pu, he's another idaho area hookup. Anyways, I can't justify driving 9 hours to get there when it takes less than 6 to hit Smith and 4 for Leavenworth. I would be willing to head into Elephant's Perch over that time frame if I get all my stuff moved out of this damn apartment in time...but it's kind of unlikely with finals and all. Quote
kevinoregon Posted May 6, 2004 Posted May 6, 2004 The City is great. Over 1000 climbs to choose from. A few days would not be enough. If you want a new place to climb, but don't want to drive that far, just drive as far as SLC and spend the time in Little Cotton Wood and Big Cottonwood canyons. Little Cottonwood is the best with up to 700' cliffs of glacier smoothed granite. The few days you have will not be enough to touch it all, but if you have never been there it is far superior to the City. I may even be there myself on the 25th. Quote
thrutch Posted May 6, 2004 Posted May 6, 2004 Not to start a debate but I personally do not think that LCC is better then the City of Rocks. Plus when climbing in LCC you have to be around a whole host of religous zealots which taints the flavor. Quote
AaronB Posted May 6, 2004 Posted May 6, 2004 I prefer the city, to lcc too. I lived in Boise for 5+ years and spent a lot of time there.. May can be Rainy and cold, or cool and dry. But snow free. It's an 11 hour drive for you, so you don't have the luxery of just waiting till the weather is right to go. I wouldn't make it a destination. I'd plan a roadtrip with lot's of possible destinations, and just go to whatever one has the best weather. Quote
jules Posted May 7, 2004 Posted May 7, 2004 I was there last year, May 7th thru 11th....it snowed every single day, accumulating about 3-4 inches over the course of the first two days. The last day it warmed up enough to melt all the snow and dry most of the rock we were on. This year might be drier. Quote
lancegranite Posted May 11, 2004 Posted May 11, 2004 Just got back... man, that place is so much better than joshua tree! Quote
lummox Posted May 11, 2004 Posted May 11, 2004 Just got back... man, that place is so much better than joshua tree! jtree has much better climbing and a lot more of it. you just have to overlook all the other stuff. the city is actually pretty small. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.